by Jillian Hart
He caught Julie before she could climb into the thick stand of trees to retrieve her other ski. “Let me. I have a way with firs.”
“Those are pines.”
He liked that she didn’t have a problem putting him in his place. “Fine. I have a way with trees. Stand aside.”
Snow-laden boughs slapped him in the face and beat him in the arm as he climbed deeper into the forest. But seizing the lone ski made it all worthwhile. Even more rewarding was the feel of Julie’s touch on his arm. It was a real connection. She was a real friend.
He hadn’t had one of those in a long time.
He found his skis while Julie waited, and then they were off together, battling it down the mountainside. The wind buffeted him and the cold stung his eyes. It was like flying, wild and fast and thrilling. He fought hard, but at the bottom of the steep hill, Julie inched ahead of him for the win.
Losing had never felt better.
As they skied back to the road, through the forest that edged her property, Julie could still feel the brush of Noah’s thumb on her cheek and the touch of his glove to her face. The cold air may have numbed her skin, but that didn’t seem to matter. She tried to think of a dozen different things. That didn’t help, either. She could remember the look in his eyes. I’m glad we’re friends, he’d said.
Friends. Yep, that’s what they were. Friends. She wouldn’t deny it. Didn’t expect anything else. But why did men always have to emphasize it, as if she wasn’t good enough or attractive enough or special enough to be anything else?
She’d been around the romantic block too many times to mistake friendship for romance. So why were her feelings hurt? Why was she yearning for tenderness from him? It made no sense. It wasn’t as if Noah was going to fall for her. He was a billionaire. She was a small-town girl. A few hours of recreation did not make a romance.
Still, disappointment washed over her when she glided across a knoll and the road came into view. Their excursion was over.
He puffed, a little out of breath. “You’re slowing down.”
So she was. It had been a fun day, and she hated to have it end. The sun was beginning to sink into the western mountains. “Every time I’m out here, I’m never ready for it to end.”
Yep, that was it. She just loved skiing so much. It had nothing to do with Noah.
“You were right. This is the best skiing I’ve ever found.” Noah tossed her that grin of his, the one that could make a woman forget every word she’d ever learned. “I can’t remember when I’ve had a better day.”
“If that’s true, you need to get out more.”
“What do you mean if? This is pretty special, what you have here. It’s amazing. If I want to ski, I have to fly there first.”
Julie rolled her eyes. “I hate it when I have to fuel up the Learjet just to go skiing.”
“There you go, teasing me again. I don’t deserve it.”
“That’s one theory.” She glided around their vehicles parked in her driveway and kept going.
“Just because I have my own jet, doesn’t mean I’m a bad guy.” He followed her. “Hey, where are you going?”
“That’s my house.” She took the snow-covered driveway at a fast pace, the wind whistling past her ears.
“Your house? Not your grandfather’s?”
“I know what you’re thinking.” She wedge-turned onto the front lawn and circled the house. “How can a kindergarten teacher afford this on her salary?”
“Something like that.” It was a little different skiing right through her yard as if it were a trail, but the snow was thick and perfect, leading them to her wood deck in the back.
Julie knelt to release her bindings, and her dark ponytail brushed over her shoulder to touch her face. Her skin was pink from the cold, and Noah had never seen a woman so beautiful. His chest tightened in that strange way again, and he felt…
He didn’t know how he felt. He only knew that he liked her.
She straightened, hauling her skis up the steps and leaning them against the side of her house. “A few years ago, Granddad gifted land to each of his grandkids and built us each a house of our choice. This cabin and the eighty acres we just skied on are mine.”
“He did what?” Noah leaned the borrowed skis next to Julie’s. “He gifted this to you?”
“I know. Pretty great, isn’t he?” There was no mistaking the affection in her voice. “He wanted to give us all a better start in life than he had. His ranch is just up the road. You probably saw the house when you drove out here.”
Noah hadn’t noticed. He was too busy looking around at the incredible view. What she called a cabin was really a two-story log house. Not extravagant, but nice. Very nice. And the land, why, it had to be seriously valuable. Something a man just didn’t give away…. “I see where you’re going with this. You must have heard Harold and I didn’t exactly become best friends.”
“I did hear a version of that.” She opened one of the glass doors—no keys, she must have left it unlocked—and stomped the snow off her boots. “You could keep an open mind the next time you meet him. Give him half a chance.”
“Yeah, yeah. If I wanted a lecture, I could have let Nanna do it.” With a wink, he followed Julie inside.
“I’m not lecturing, and you asked about the house. What do you think?” She held her arms wide, gesturing to the home she was obviously proud of.
“What’s not to like?” He took in the golden honey floors and walls. The open beam ceilings that made the kitchen and eating nook feel spacious. Glass windows stretched from floor to ceiling, showcasing the perfect view of shrouded forest and mountains. “I wouldn’t mind looking out at this every day when I come home from work.”
“It’s great stress reduction. I put up my feet, look out the window and every trouble melts away.” She put cups of water in the microwave. “Want to try it? The recliner in the living room is to die for. Once you get in it, it will take an act of Congress to get you out.”
In the living room, a gray striped cat took one look at him and raced up the stairs in a blur. He should have figured Julie for a pet person. A blanket was folded on the couch cushion, with telltale cat hair on it. It wasn’t too hard to imagine her curled up on the couch watching television at night, with the cat at her side.
It was a pretty big place for one person. He could see his reflection in the living room windows as the sun peeked out, streaking through the glass. The view was even better from here. A man who’d given this to his granddaughter probably wasn’t short on cash.
“How many grandkids are there?”
“Ten of us.” Julie sounded pleased with herself.
She ought to be. He’d been determined to find out Harold’s true motives. True love was possible, but there were other more likely reasons.
Greed. He saw every day what people would do for the almighty dollar, as if that was what truly mattered. Women he’d dated and he’d thought he’d been in love with. Friends that wound up betraying him. Even his family. Whenever Mom or Dad gave him a call, as rare as that was, it was because they needed a few hundred grand to get them by.
“I hope you like hot chocolate with lots of marshmallows.” Julie breezed into the room in her stocking feet, the hem of her jeans wet with snow. She carried two brimming mugs and thrust one at him. “You don’t look like a marshmallow kind of guy, but too bad. You’re getting them anyway.”
“What does that mean? I am a marshmallow kind of guy.” The cup was hot against his fingers, the chocolate aroma rich and sweet. The marshmallows melted into a foamy froth. “As sweet as can be.”
“Do I look gullible?” She grabbed a remote and pressed a button. The fireplace in the corner roared to life. “You’re a self-made man, according to all my friends who read that recent magazine article about you.”
“I inherited my first million, but made the rest myself.” He took the recliner. “That doesn’t make me ruthless. Maybe I made my fortune by accident.”
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�By accident? How do you do that, I’d like to know. I love teaching—don’t get me wrong—but I wouldn’t mind being accidentally wealthy.” She sat on the edge of the wide coffee table, chin up, all challenge.
She didn’t believe him when he’d said his success was an accident. Fine. She would.
“This is something you won’t read in any magazine. I never admit this to anyone else. Probably because then I’d look like an incompetent who shouldn’t be in charge of a company.”
“Ooh, now I’m curious.” She leaned forward, and he felt as if he could tell her anything.
“I was fresh out of business school with my MBA in hand. The last thing I wanted to do was work with my father. He has a consulting firm and he was pressuring me to join him. But I’d come into my money that summer, so I rented office space in the basement of this old building in Queens. I set up shop and wrote code with a buddy of mine. By Christmas, we had a financial software package on the market, for trading stocks electronically. By spring, I quadrupled my inheritance.”
“I thought you ran this huge electronics conglomerate.”
“It started out as a small software venture. I was just doing what I loved to do. It snowballed. No, it exploded like a ton of dynamite and buried my life.” He felt a sense of loss he couldn’t explain and didn’t know where it came from. “So I made billions and built a huge company, and I never intended to do it.”
He took a sip of hot chocolate, and the sweetness soothed that unsettled feeling in his stomach. “Julie, promise me something. Don’t tell the stockholders I admitted that.”
“Cross my heart.” She said it like a promise she would keep for the rest of her days.
She was too good to be true, and he was thankful she was his friend.
She took a sip of hot chocolate. Marshmallow clung to her upper lip. The tip of her tongue swiped the sweetness away.
Before he knew what he was doing, he reached across the distance between them. Her lips felt like warmed satin against his fingertip. “You missed a spot.”
“I bet the women you spend time with don’t spill marshmallow fluff all over themselves.”
“No, they don’t.” His fingers stroked the corner of her mouth. His touch felt tender and amazing.
She sparkled all the way down to her toes. No man had ever made her feel like this.
He withdrew, but he didn’t ease back into the chair. He placed his elbows on his knees, remaining close. So close she could see the black flecks in his dark eyes. It would take nothing at all for him to lean forward and kiss her. She almost wanted him to.
Romantic doom, remember? It was hard, but she managed to slide away from him without spilling her hot chocolate or letting her feelings show.
The microwave dinged, saving her. Instead of running away from being so close to him, it looked as if she were leaving for completely valid reasons.
Noah seemed unaware as he straightened, stood up and paced to the far window. The sunlight was waning, the world outside somber and brooding.
Friends, he had said wisely, and she wholeheartedly agreed. A man like Noah Ashton was wrong for her.
The chili was steaming, and she gave it a good stir.
“Smells good.” Noah wandered into the kitchen, stretching. “Homemade?”
“The only kind.” She slipped a plate piled with cornbread slices into the microwave and hit the start button. “What do you want to drink? I have vanilla soda or root beer.”
“You pick.” He sidled past her to the sink and turned on the faucet. The scent of berries filled the air as he pumped out a few dollops of soft soap.
There was a jingling sound, but it wasn’t the microwave.
“My cell.” Noah’s hands were in the water. “It’s in my coat. Can you grab it?”
It could be the doctor. She could feel his urgency. She dashed to the table, where his jacket was hanging over the back of a chair, and found the phone by feel.
“If it’s from area code 212, let the voice mail get it.” He turned off the faucet. “I can always get back—”
Kline Detective Agency, it said on the caller ID screen. Julie stared at it for a moment, and the ringing stopped.
“Is it the doctor?” Noah was dripping water on the floor. He grabbed the phone with his wet hands, worry harsh on his face as he read the screen.
Julie turned away. It was none of her business who was calling Noah. It could be a wrong number. It could be anything.
Then why was he so quiet?
“I’ll return that call later.” He tucked the phone back into his coat pocket.
“Sure.” She carried the bowls to the table. She wasn’t going to make any judgments or any conclusions. The pit of her stomach felt oddly empty. Noah wouldn’t have Granddad investigated, right? That was something people only did on television.
Noah punched open the microwave door and brought the cornbread to the table for her.
The silence in the kitchen felt enormous. He could hear every footstep. The scrape of wood against the tile floor seemed so loud. Or maybe it was his guilty conscience.
He shouldn’t have asked Julie to catch the phone. He didn’t think the detective would get back to him so fast. The doctor was supposed to be the one calling, and no way had Noah wanted to hear bad news on his voice mail.
Now, he regretted his impatience. Julie was very quiet as she set spoons and knives on the table. She pushed aside a neat pile of construction paper. Looked as if she’d been cutting out big block letters for a classroom bulletin board.
She waited until she was seated to say grace. He muttered “Amen,” and reached for the paper napkin.
She looked upset, and he was a smart enough man to steer clear of the phone call topic. So he said what was on his mind. “What do you think of marriage?”
Her spoon hit the bowl with a clatter. “Do you mean the upcoming wedding or are you talking about marriage in general?”
Uh-oh. She sounded really angry. He started backpedaling. “Marriage in general. It sounds like your parents divorced, too.”
“I didn’t know that was any of your business.” She said it nicely, but there was no mistaking the way she glared at him.
Yep, she was mad. He wasn’t going to get out of this unscathed. He may as well face up to it. “I didn’t mean for you to know about the detective.”
“Why should I? You aren’t investigating my grandfather, right?” She folded her hands neatly on the table in front of her. “That detective was calling about something else, right?”
“No.” He felt really bad, so he took a bite of chili. He was amazingly hungry. “After being with you today, I decided I didn’t need a P.I.”
“So, you thought you had the right to investigate him?”
It was perfectly legal, he wanted to point out, but he decided to take the diplomatic course. Because he really did feel guilty. “I made a mistake. I’ll pay the detective what I owe him, but I won’t ask for the information.”
“I see. That makes it all right?”
“No.” He didn’t want to hurt her. “I’m sorry. My grandmother is a very wealthy woman, and I have the right to protect her.”
“You’ve come to stop the wedding, haven’t you? You’re just not going to admit it.”
“I admit it. I don’t think marriage is a good idea in general, but Harold seems to make Nanna happier than I’ve ever seen her. Ever. That’s worth something.”
She pushed away from the table. How could she have been so wrong about Noah? “You took one look at my grandfather and thought, ‘Now there’s someone to suspect.’ Look at the way he helps his grandchildren and attends church on Sunday and donates his time at Young Life. It’s all a front. He’s really a romancer of rich women.”
“Julie.” Noah stood, and looked pained, his hands held out as if he wasn’t sure he should touch her or defend himself from her. “It wasn’t like that. Really. Could you let me apologize?”
“Apologize? That won’t change anything.” She could
n’t believe she’d been so gullible. She’d been taken in by Noah, too. She’d trusted him, and he’d been using her! “You spent the day with me to gather information on my grandfather.”
“No! That’s not true.”
“How can I believe you after this?” It felt as if her heart were being torn in two. “I want you out of my house. Now.”
He bowed his head. All the fight seemed to go out of him. “Fine. I’ll go. But you’re wrong, Julie. I didn’t use you.”
“Sure.” She refused to believe him. He was no different than any other man she’d liked. She was a magnet for deceitful men, and Noah was no exception.
He did look so alone standing there. He didn’t argue or lose his temper. She saw the regret on his handsome face before he turned, grabbed his coat and walked out her door.
Good riddance. The last thing she needed was a spying, suspicious man out to use her.
And she’d mistaken him for a friend.
“Noah, is that you, dear boy?” Nanna called out from the living room.
“Yes, but I could be anyone since you don’t keep your door locked.” Noah shut the door behind him. The cold had leaked into his bones, and he felt as if he’d never get warm. Plunging his hands in his coat pockets, he wandered into the hallway. “Want anything from the kitchen?”
“I have all I need.”
Did she have to sound so happy? As if she had the answers to everything? She probably did, but that didn’t help his situation. He’d messed up the first friendship he’d made in a long time. He felt guilty.
“Did Julie get ahold of you? She called here looking for you this morning.”
Noah yanked open the refrigerator. “I met up with her in town.”
“Good. She’s such a nice girl, don’t you think?”
Sure. And he’d made her nice and mad. He felt horrible. He’d hurt her.
“See that Crock-Pot simmering on the counter? I made a nice beef stew. We’ll eat in a bit.” Nanna was unstoppable. “Don’t you go spoiling your supper.”
He grabbed a carton of milk. “I’ll be good.”
“You will be, because I’m watching you, young man.” Heels tapped on hardwood as she approached, all smile and charm. “You look much healthier after one day in my care. See what good, clean Montana air can do?”